Railroad-rail joint



0. s. CHURCHILL.

RAILROAD RAIL JOINT.

Patented July 29, 1890. Ffdi. 3

Haa 1\ f,

E Y E \W NA I? 07mg ,5. a/uwcibazz 3 7066 l/ltorneys w Mo i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' CHARLES S. CHURCHILL, OF RCANOKE, VIRGINIA.

RAILROAD-RAIL JOINT.

SIPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,273, dated July 29, 1890.

Application filed March 24, 1890.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it kn own that 1, CHARLES S. CHURCHILL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Roanoke, Roanoke county, Virginia, have invented certain Improvements in Railroad- Rail Joints, of which the following is a specifieation.

My invention relates to that class of railroad-rail joints in which the two ends of the rail are secured together at a point between two of the supporting-ties; and it consists of a peculiar construction of supporting-bridge, with which are combined angle-bars or fishplates extending over the rail and the bridge in such a manner that all the parts will be held firmly together, with the object of making the rail at the joint possess, as nearly as possible, the same elasticity under the load as it does at any other point in its length.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical elevation of a railroad-rail joint constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the same on the line 1 2, Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a sect-ion on the line 3 4, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the under side of the bridgepiece.

The bridge-piece A consists of a plate of iron or steel formed of a narrow central section a, provided with a strengtheningrib b on its under side, and two broad end sections a a extending over and adapted to be secured to the ties. By this construction the weight of the rail and train is distributed over a large surface of the ties, preventing their rapid wear and also serving to hold the ties securely in position, while the ribbedbridge portion is sufiiciently strong, in connection with the angle-bars, to withstand the Weight of the rails and train and transmit it to the ties.

lhe angle-bars or fish-plates are of the pe culiar construction best shown in Fig. 3, each consisting of an upper part B and a lower part 0, connected together by an outwardly curved and inclined portion D, embracing both the bridge-piece and the lower flange of the rail, The parts 13 extend for a consider- Serial No. 345,049. (No model.)

able distance along the sides of the rails, in the manner common to ordinary fish-plates, and are secured to the rails and to each other by bolts 1). The parts 0 are made short enough to fit in between the adjoining ties, and the bolts 0, which serve to bind them together, pass beneath the ribbed bridge-piece, as shown in Fig. 3, or through the same. It will also be noticed that the inclined portions D of the angle-bars fit snugly against the inclined flanges of the rail and the inclined under side of the bridge-piece A, so that when the bolts 7) and c are tightened the parts are pressed into close contact and the whole structure is bound firmly together, preventing the deflection of the rail ends or the creeping of the rails, while at the same time it possesses to an almost similar degree the elasticity of the other portion of the rails.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, in a rail-joint, of the bridge-piece A, having its opposite ends resting upon and secured to the ties, the rails supported by said bridge-piece, the opposite an gle-bars embracing the rails and the bridgepiece, saidangle-bars being formed of sections of different lengths, the upper sections being secured to the web of the rails and the lower sections being secured together below the bridgepiece, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a rail-joint, of the bridge-piece consisting of a central narrow ribbed section and broad end sections, the rails supported by said bridge-piece and the opposite angle-bars, each formed of upper and lower parts connected by a curved and inclined portion embracing the bridge-piece and the flange of the rail, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES S. CHURCHILL.

Witnesses:

MORGAN E. YEATMA JOHN J. QUINN. 

